Happy Friday Everyone!
I hope everyone is enjoying this festive season! Let’s get started with Friday Five!
One – Holiday Joy & Happenings
This has been a busy month with a lot of fun Christmas social events and activities! 🙂 I wanted to share some with y’all!
I think I have a new Thanksgiving tradition! Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, I visited this farmhouse boutique 2 minutes from my house that I’ve driven by everyday for a couple of years and never took the time to go in. It’s called Nana’s Farmhouse and they definitely have a lot of farmhouse goodies!! I didn’t even know they had a website till I Googled it, but you can shop from it HERE.
Isn’t this stacked wood Christmas tree GORG? And, in the photo on the right you’ll see what I brought home with me! 🙂
Since the kids don’t believe in Santa anymore, we decided to take turns as a family on moving the Elves each day and some days I took in a little gift with them. Brian did really good with this one, it is kind of cute how he gets into it! Lol!
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I found these cute glasses at Cracker Barrel. I got a snowman one and a gingerbread man one. You look into them and it changes the lights in the room or on the tree to little snowmen/gingerbread men. It is SO cool! Autumn realized you could take a photo of the tree with the glasses through your phone… This would make a fun little gift or stocking stuffer. You can find them on Amazon Prime, too if you CLICK HERE.
I had my last CBS class for this year and they had the church all decked out for the holidays. They had these wooden signs hung up all over the church with nails and colored thread to spell out Christmas words and shapes. So pretty!
The moms in Autumn’s class did an appetizer dinner and ornament exchange one night. It was a lot of fun, but a little sad as we lost one of the mom’s around Halloween from an asthma attack. This was a tradition she had started and one of the mom’s decided to continue it. This is the ornament I got, which is perfect for me since I love farmhouse style! It even lights up!
They had a benefit night for the mom that passed away and earned $8,000 for her daughter’s tuition at the kids school! I won this hair and bath gift basket. It was HUGE with a lot of great products in it like Paul Mitchel, It’s a 10, Moroccan Oil, etc.
Two – Turkey Trot 5K/FASTer Way
I’ve been following The FASTer Way fitness and diet plan for a couple of years now and I just love their monthly goals. For November, the goal was to run a Turkey Trot. Of course, I couldn’t fly out to Orlando to run it with Amanda Tress (founder) and the FASTer Way team, BUT I found a Turkey Trot at Six Flags Amusement park just outside St. Louis and I got to run around the park and in some ‘secret’ park areas. It was pretty cool! I’m not sure if I want to do a Turkey Trot every Thanksgiving, but it was fun to do it this year! Amanda Tress was talking about some of the upcoming VIP Monthly Challenges and I’m excited about the one for February, where we will all as a community go vegan for a month! I’ve been reading about how unhealthy meat can be, especially processed meat and red meat. You can learn more by checking out these two books I just finished: How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease and The Food Babe Way: Break Free From the Hidden Toxins in Your Food. I’m planning to still eat meat, but I want to make healthier choices (grass fed, organic, etc.) when I can.
In St. Louis there is a grocer called Dierbergs and they have a cooking school in some of their stores. I saw that they had a Tea Time class and I signed up! It was SO much fun and so, so delicious! I love a good tea time!
Three – Blogging Friendships are the BEST!
My sweet blogging and in real life friend Lauren from Mom Home Guide sent me the sweetest Christmas package. She really knows me well! I got a few ornaments: a glittery green Starbucks ornament (I have 4 total now!), a white truck with tree and a coffee ornament. Fuzzy socks and a knitted hat with a cute pom pom. Old time truck tea towels and a fitness book (I’m really into reading about fitness lately!). And, my favorite item is a wood slice gnome ornament she made me herself. Find directions for it on her blog HERE.
Jill from Doused in Pink that I do Thursday Fashion Files with was sweet enough to send me a Christmas package as well! She picked out the cutest items. Thanks, Jill!
Four – Kruteaz Protein Muffin Mix (Wild Blueberry and Banana Nut)
Kruteaz is one of my favorite baking mixes and I was pleasantly surprised by their new Protein Muffin Mixes. The ingredients are super clean (and short!) and as a bonus, you get a little extra protein while enjoying a decadent treat. I did find that these are a little more dense than their regular muffins, but they’re still really good! I preferred them fresh out of the oven over warming them up later. The wild blueberry and banana nut flavors both get a thumbs up from me. I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing.
Five – Sephora Play! November
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I wanted to share my November Sephora Play! box with y’all. It had some pretty amazing products in it this time. I’m trying to decide if I’ll keep getting this box after December. I’m starting to get a lot of products… yet, I’m still enjoying it! Ahh, decisions, decisions!
Artist Couture – Diamond Glass Powder in YASSS!
This product is REALLY awesome. A little goes a long way and it stays in place all day. If you want a dewy complexion (I love to put it on the tops of my cheekbones), THIS is it! It has really good reviews and you can look on the Sephora site and see how it looks in the photos of some of the reviewers. I really think I’ll upgrade to a full size of this once I’m out. The color I received is a soft pink, I just love it!
Ciate London – Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer
Ohhh, this was another fave of mine in the box! It SMELLS.SO.DANG.GOOD! But, I love watermelon. It works really well, too. It does leave your skin looking a little more dewy than matte, if that is the look you are going for…
DevaCurl – Melt into Moisture Matcha Butter Conditioning Mask
I have naturally curly hair that is a MAJOR pain, so I was thankful to receive this in the box. It works great, especially since I feel my hair gets more dry during the winter. It smells really, really good, too!
Skinfix – Redness Recovery Antioxidant Redness Treatment Overnight Mask
I don’t really have problems with redness on my skin, but my husband does and I gifted him this
Kiehl’s Since 1851 – Calendula Serum-Infused Water Cream
I always really enjoy Kiehl’s products, they always work great. I put this on before my face lotion/cream and it goes on light and smells good, too! The calendula flower is in the daisy family and the highest concentrate of its extract, plus hundreds of micronized petals, are what makes this cream so comforting.
One of the reviewers on Sephora said this scent is liquid lingerie and I would have to agree! My husband noticed the scent on me right away. It has notes of iced accord and lotus flower.
Well, I hope everyone has a nice and relaxing weekend!
